


Who Needs Shelter (From the Sun)

by kaleidomusings



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kittens, Lamarque also makes an appearance, M/M, and Enjolras doesn't know how to deal with his feelings, there are a lot of kittens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 03:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidomusings/pseuds/kaleidomusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras takes in three abandoned kittens and Grantaire decides to help with caring for them. </p><p>Now if only Enjolras wasn't so hopelessly in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Needs Shelter (From the Sun)

**Author's Note:**

> I've read a lot fics where Enjolras is suddenly forced to take in babies or small animals and flounders because he doesn't know how to take care of them. This story, on the other hand, focuses on Enjolras choosing to care for small baby animals even when he knows how much work it can be and how emotionally devastating it is to lose a beloved pet.

Enjolras doesn't keep pets. 

His friends seem to think that it's because he dislikes animals or that his level of care of other living things is both alarming and dangerous, but that isn't the case at all. He's just well aware that caring for a pet is a big responsibility and -with everything going on in his life- he doesn't have time to give an animal all the love it needs to raise it properly. 

But Enjolras also can't abandon a creature that needs his help, so when he found a cardboard box on the street with three tiny malnourished and dirty kittens crying loudly, the thought of leaving them makes him sick to his stomach. So he carries the box home, his jacket draped over the top to keep the kittens warm. Their cries lessen after that, which makes it easier for Enjolras to think and come up with a plan. 

Fortunately, Joly is home early from his day at the clinic. so Enjolras wordlessly hands him the box while he sets up a little nest in the corner of the living room out of a few bathroom towels.

"Put them there and keep an eye on them," Enjolras says as he heads toward the kitchen, ignoring the frantic noises Joly is making about bringing stray animals into the apartment. 

He heats up some warm water in a large bowl and grabs a few clean dish cloths. When he returns to the living room, Joly has two of the kittens in the nest and is cradling the third and smallest one in his hands.

"They're so adorable and most definitely diseased. Where did you find these little things?"

"On the street," Enjolras replies, plucking one of the kittens out the nest and rubbing it clean with a wet cloth. It cries and struggles, but when Enjolras is finished, underneath all the dirt and grime are splashes of orange, black, and white of a little calico. Joly helps, cleaning the kitten he's already holding, which turns out to be almost completely black with a patch of white on its chest. The last is a little grey tabby, who curls up in Enjolras' lap and instantly falls asleep.

Its siblings seem to approve of the idea, and Enjolras soon finds a kitty pile on top of him. Helplessly, he glances at Joly, but the traitor just coveres his mouth with a hand that fails to hide his smile. "I guess I had better go on a supply run," he says, amused.

Enjolras doesn't stick his tongue out at him, although it's very tempting. Instead, he wiggles around until he can pull his wallet free and tosses it in Joly's direction. "Here. Be sure to use my card."

Joly pockets it with a nod and goes to grab his keys. As the front door closes behind him, Enjolras shuffles his way onto the couch, trying not to wake the kittens. He soon starts to doze, telling himself he's only going to rest his eyes for only a moment--

\--

The snapping sound of a camera phone startles him awake. 

Courfeyrac dances back with a laugh and starts fiddling with his phone. "I need to send this to everyone," he says gleefully.

Enjolras considers the idea of leaping up off the couch after him, but that'll take too much effort and is sure to wake the kittens, so he just gives Courfeyrac his most withering glare. He glances down to find the calico and tabby are cuddling together on his stomach, as for the black one, it's curled up under his chin and purring like a little motor. It's absolutely precious and will just be one of the many reasons why his friends can't take him seriously anymore.

"I hate you."

"Don't be like that," Courfeyrac says with a grin. "This is just too cute. Isn't it, Grantaire?"

Enjolras' cheeks turn hot when he finally notices Grantaire standing in the doorway of the kitchen, because _of course_. He works his mouth, trying to think of what to say before giving up. He expects Grantaire to tease or make fun of him, but all he does is stare with a strange expression Enjolras can't decipher. Feeling self conscious, Enjolras slowly sits up with the little black kitten cupped against his chest, running his free hand through his messy curls in a halfhearted attempt to smooth them into place. It doesn't work. 

But it does seem to wake Grantaire from his stupor. With a jolt, he steps forward to take the little black kitten from Enjolras so he can sit up and feed it from the bottle he has with him. It starts suckling greedily and its siblings stir at the sound, immediately starting to whine for their own meal. 

Joly comes to the rescue then, two other bottles in each hand. "I got some kitty formula and all their necessities. I wasn't sure what kind of litter to get but when I spoke with the employee at the pet shop--"

"I want to feed one," Courfeyrac interrupts, grabbing one of the bottles and scooping up the tabby kitten in his arms, sitting down at the far end of the couch. 

"Thanks, Joly. You can show it all to me later." Enjolras accepts the bottle handed to him and cradles the calico against him as it feeds. It watches him with its big, round eyes and he can't help smiling back. Suddenly, a feeling causes him to glance up and finds Grantaire staring at him with a strange expression he can't read. Grantaire looks away and shifts awkwardly on his feet.

Courfeyrac notices Grantaire still standing and frowns. "Come on, Grantaire. Sit down. The babies have to be comfortable."

"Quit nagging me," Grantaire grumbles, but he sits down all the same, right next to Enjolras.

Enjolras swallows hard as Grantaire's shoulder brushes his and tries very hard not to think about the warmth of Grantaire's thigh pressed against his own. 

\--

The next day, Enjolras takes time off of work so that he can take the kittens to the vet. He would have preferred to go alone, but Joly mentions it the night before while Courfeyrac and Grantaire are still over. And when Grantaire offers to go with him, claiming to be an extra pair of hands and wanting to be there for moral support, Enjolras doesn't have the heart to refuse. 

The vet is a kindly, older woman named Lamarque, who answers all of Enjolras' questions and concerns with ease. From what she can tell, the calico and black kitten are female and the tabby is male. They're all about three weeks old. They are also surprisingly healthy, considering they were taken away from their mother so early and abandoned as they were. 

"Although I'm a little concerned about this one," she says, holding the little black kitten in her hands. "She's much smaller than the others, so you may have to keep an eye on her in case she develops any diseases. But just to be on the safe side I can prescribe some medication if anything out of the ordinary occurs."

"Thank you," Grantaire says when Enjolras remains silent, just smooths his hand along the calico's back, who is happily nestled in his lap. When his hands still for even a moment, she starts to whine, demanding more attention.

Lamarque smiles. "Feel free to call me for any questions that you might have."

Grantaire assures her they will and coaxes the kittens into their carrier, before leading the way back to the his car. Enjolras climbs into the passenger seat and waits expectantly for Grantaire to take them home, but he turns to look at him instead. "Are you all right?"

Enjolras glances away, suddenly embarrassed. "I'm fine," he says, but it's too hurried to be the truth. Grantaire stares at him for a long moment until Enjolras finally looks back at him, flushed and irritated.

"What? I'm just--" He falters slightly but keeps going. "I should have taken the kittens to a shelter instead of bringing them home, then maybe there might have been less chance of them getting sick."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Grantaire replies. Enjolras glares at him, stung, but he raised a hand to keep him from arguing. "Shelters are all well and good, but there are diseases they can pick up no matter where they are. And in any case, they're so young that they probably would have been euthanized if you had." 

Enjolras blinks and looks down at the carrier in his lap, where the black kitten has reached at him through the bars with one paw. Enjolras brushes his fingers against the soft pink underside and smiles. "All right. You made a good point."

"I'm known to do that every once in a while," Grantaire says with a wink, and if Enjolras blushes a little, he's never admit it to anyone.

\--

It isn't long before the entire group finds out about the kittens Enjolras rescued. One by one, they start finding excuses to sneak into the apartment and take a look at them. 

Bahorel and Feuilly tease Enjolras mercilessly about being an angelic savior of small, defenseless animals. Jehan brings over a huge pile of books on kitty care and nearly melts when the tabby nuzzles his hands. Eponine and Cosette fall in love with the calico, but it turns out that Marius was scratched by a cat when he was younger and flinches whenever the kittens get too close to him. Of course, Bossuet -being Bosseut- discovers that he is deathly allergic to cat dander and has to be stabbed with Joly's spare epipen before he goes into anaphylactic shock.

As for Combeferre, he knows Enjolras better than anyone. When Courfeyrac blurts out that Grantaire has been going over to the apartment almost everyday to help care for the kittens, he raises a questioning eyebrow in his direction. Enjolras can't help flushing in response, because the only person who has any idea about his feelings for Grantaire is his best friend.

"Are you all right?" Combeferre asks later, when Enjolras escapes into the kitchen under the pretense of heating up more kitten formula. 

The real reason he's hiding is because of Joly and Grantaire were playing with the kittens in the living room when the calico pounced too enthusiastically and nearly toppled them all over. To catch his balance, Grantaire's hand landed right on Enjolras' thigh, making him jump off the couch and leave the room before he did something embarrassing, like press into the touch with a moan and doing something incredibly stupid. Like kiss Grantaire, which is exactly what he's really, really wanted to do for as long as he's known him. 

"I'm fine," Enjolras insists, but it's too hurried and he can't seem to catch his breath. 

\--

Several more weeks pass with Enjolras having to endure the torture of having Grantaire so close and yet still out of reach. Because Grantaire continues stopping by whenever he gets the chance, even commandeering the couch on the nights he doesn't want to go back to his place, and always seems to be touching him. They're mostly small fleeting touches -a bump of the shoulder, the nudge of his knee against his- but Enjolras _wants_. He wants so much more, but he's too scared to actually ask for it, fearing rejection. 

So he decides that when the kittens are big enough, he can adopt them out to a real home, a better home, and that way Grantaire doesn't come by anymore. 

"I need to find the kittens proper homes," Enjolras announces, when it's just the two of them in the apartment. 

Grantaire looks at him, with a shocked and slightly hurt expression that takes him aback. "What for?"

"A tiny little apartment with three cats?" Enjolras tries to sound reasonable, but his heart is beating fast. Why is Grantaire making this so hard? "They barely any space to roam around as it is."

"So you're going to give up them just because it's a little inconvenient for you?"

Enjolras frowns. He's the one who woke up just that morning with the kittens piled on his chest, purring happily. He isn't giving them away because he wants, it's so that things can go back to normal. So Grantaire doesn't have to feel obligated to spend more time with Enjolras than he has to. "They're going to be miserable if they don't have any space. And they should be given all the love and attention they deserve. That's not something I can provide for them." 

"I'm here too," Grantaire snaps. He seems to realize what he just said and scowls, like he's embarrassed. "And so is Joly."

"But you won't be. Not forever," Enjolras says before he can help himself. Because people leave eventually, no matter how much he loves them. And pets, no matter how much he wants to be with them for as long as possible, could never live long as a person could.

When Enjolras was a boy, he used to have a cat. A beautiful golden tabby, who patiently waited for him to come home from school every day, followed him around like a dog wherever he went, and slept with him at night. But one day, she got sick and her condition was too serious for the vet to do anything about it, so his parents decided to put her down. He still remembers how she looked as he said goodbye to her, her eyes cloudy and dark. 

And as much as Enjolras adores the kittens now, he isn't sure that he'll be able to go through that sort of loss again. He's a fool for even picking them up off the streets in the first place. 

Grantaire is silent for a long time. "What is this really about?" he asks finally. 

And Enjolras is suddenly angry, heartsick and aching with it. "I love you," he blurts out. "I have for a long time. And while I'm glad you come over to help take care of the kittens, I'm going to start hoping for too much. But the kittens deserve better than that. _You_ deserve better than that. That's why we should put an end to things now, before it gets worse later."

Grantaire stares at him in stunned silence before shaking his head. "You are an _idiot_."

Grantaire's words hurt more than any physical blow, but Enjolras opens his mouth to defend himself a hand fists in the collar of his shirt and yanks him toward Grantaire. When warm lips press against his own, he's almost too surprised to react. But then Grantaire's other hand cradles the back of his head as he deepens the kiss, Enjolras feels himself relax and eases into the kiss, his hands twisting in Grantaire's hair.

"I love you too, even though you're a complete moron," Grantaire murmurs against his mouth when they finally pull away to catch their breath. "And if you're so worried about space, we'll find a bigger apartment. The two of us and the cats." He places a gentle hand on Enjolras' knee. "We'll make this work. And then you'll never be rid of me for the rest of our lives."

"That's very romantic," Enjolras says sarcastically, but kisses again him all the same, his heart feeling like it might burst with emotion.

Because Enjolras doesn't keep pets. There's just so much responsibility that goes into taking care of them, and it's painful when they pass on. He isn't sure that he'll be able to handle it when the kittens grow up and he'll have to stay goodbye to them for good.

But at least with Grantaire around, he doesn't have to deal with it alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope you enjoyed the story and that you take the time to leave kudos and comment.


End file.
